


chained

by MementoMoriPontifexMortis



Series: barney/clint/natasha aus [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Forced Chaining, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Incest, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Slight Graphic Description of Murderous Thoughts, forced collaring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22778401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MementoMoriPontifexMortis/pseuds/MementoMoriPontifexMortis
Summary: “He’s alive.” If Clint had been conscious, he would’ve been stuck in a kneeling position with his hands held outwards, but given that Clint wasn’t conscious, he was instead laying on the ground, face down.
Relationships: Barney Barton/Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov
Series: barney/clint/natasha aus [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/463906
Kudos: 2





	chained

**Author's Note:**

> eugh, who would've guessed i'd end up back here, writing for this absolutely trash of a ship??? sure as hell not me. anyway, i love these guys. they're all messed up and got no place to go but each other's arms. anyway, i wrote this thanks to the help of three prompts, they were: 
> 
> \- collared and chained  
> \- “Who could do this?”  
> \- harsh climate
> 
> harsh climate wasn't really mentioned but given that i prompted myself, i'm allowing it. the prompts themselves come from the badthingshappen tumblr trope page, the fictober 2018 page, and the whumptober 2018 page, as well as some prompts that i found on pinterest that unfortunately have their sources edited out because that's pinterest for you. hope you guys enjoy.

* * *

Natasha covered her mouth as she moved deeper into the room, her green eyes searching for a figure. “He might not be here,” she muttered, her comms picking up the words. At least she hoped Clint wasn’t as the entire room smelled of blood and urine.

A small curse followed a sigh, “He’s gotta be,” Barney said, his voice just as soft, despite the rough cadence. “This is where – this is Zemo’s last known location.”

There was something unspoken, something she wouldn’t ask about, but still she nodded. “Okay, we’ll keep searching.” As if either of them would stop before they had searched every inch of the desolate bunker.

Breathing out, Natasha moved a bit further in, before shaking her head. The room was too small to hide Clint and so she backed out, making sure to not bump into anything as she did so. There wasn’t anyone there – at least, as far as she could tell – the few agents that had been hiding in the bunker had been dispatched quickly by both her and Barney, yet she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched.

They were in the middle of nowhere, cold air the only thing that howled, yet, there seemed to be a presence that they couldn’t shake. It was why she hadn’t wanted to split up when Barney had suggested it.

“Fuck.” The swear echoed in her ear. “I found him, ‘Tasha.” Barney’s voice was anything but happy at that, but Natasha felt his spirits rise a little.

“Where are you?” she asked as she took the hallway back down to where they had split up. From the open door that she and Barney had entered, she could see the bright white snow, sunlight glistening off of it. It looked serene, she thought before she turned away, too serene. As she began to run softly down the route Barney had taken, she made sure that her footsteps and her breathing was loud enough that he would know that it was her that was coming down his way.

Rooms, with their wide open doors and their dark interiors mocked her slightly as she continued to run, stopping only when she heard the word, “Here,” spoken by Barney as she moved passed it.

She stopped at the doorway where she heard his voice. “Is he-?” Natasha peered into the room, a small gasp escaping her lips as she did so and cutting off her words. He definitely wasn’t okay, she thought as she swallowed the lump in her throat. The room was barely larger than a closet and she noticed immediately that Barney was kneeling on his knees as he worked with the chains that held Clint to the floor. It smelled like antiseptic – nothing like the blood or grime smells that had been in all the other rooms.

“He’s alive,” Barney whispered. She watched him for a moment before she moved into the room, kneeling as she did so. Her hands quickly moved to take care of the chains covering his wrist. If Clint had been conscious, he would’ve been stuck in a kneeling position with his hands held outwards, but given that Clint wasn’t conscious, he was instead laying on the ground, face down.

Natasha moved slightly without thinking, lifting the blindfold off of Clint’s face so she could see the rest of his face. He had a black eye, a split lip, and would probably need stitches for the gash that was above his eye, but other than that, he looked peaceful. “He’s probably exhausted,” she said, her voice cracking on the last word.

It was the only explanation that she would accept for why Clint had yet to awoken.

Barney just nodded. “I’m going to kill Zemo,” he muttered after he had gotten the chains off of Clint’s ankles. “I’m going to gut him and then cut his throat.”

Natasha hummed, listening as he continued with his violent words. If Clint were up, he’d be telling Barney to breath, to take a chill pill, or some variation of _please stop, I’m kinda terrified when you get like this,_ but Natasha was quite fond of his vivid imagination – it was exhilarating to know that there was someone who like thinking about murder like she did sometimes.

“Sonabitch.”

Natasha looked up. Barney had moved onto checking Clint for other injuries and with that one growled curse word, she felt her heart drop. “What’s the-”

“Fuckin’ bastard, this wasn’t _just_ Zemo.”

She frowned, her eyebrows furrowing as she did so, “Who could do this, then?” she asked as she finished with one wrist and moved onto the next.

Barney shook his head - he was keeping secrets, keeping the information to himself and it brought a bit of fury to Natasha’s tongue - and his hand clenched around something near Clint’s neck, pulling. The sound of breaking leather and probably metal echoed slightly and as he tossed the offending thing from Clint’s neck, Natasha sucked in a breath.

A collar.

Someone had collared Clint. Her eyes shot to Barney and he shared a look with her before swallowing. “I’ll explain later,” he muttered. 

She nodded before moving to soothingly stroke Clint’s arm, “It’s okay, [душа моя](/), you’re going to be okay.” It was a promise she couldn’t keep, something they all knew, but still she spoke it. “You’re going to be okay.”

“He’s going to be fine,” Barney muttered after a moment, gathering Clint’s head in his lap. “He’s going to be fine.”

Natasha undid the last chain holding Clint before she moved to sit right next to Barney, her hand moving to stroke Clint’s hair, “We gotta move him – Kate can only keep New York City from falling apart for so long,” she muttered after a moment.

Barney nodded, “I’ll carry him,” he said as he moved to stand.

“As if I could carry him in his current state,” she teased. 

The look Barney gave her told her that he knew she was being facetious, but wasn’t going to call her out on it, which she was thankful for. She hadn’t wanted to call Barney out for wanting to not let go of Clint, not when she knew there was more to this situation then he was willing to share right now, but she knew that if Barney tried to argue with her - even if in jest - she’d let loose the volley of questions and accusations she had that laid on the tip of her tongue. 

She wouldn’t mean to, she loved both of the Barton boys, but Clint was important to her in a way that Barney could never be: he had saved her, brought her into the light, and the idea that she could lose him and not know why, haunted her. 

(Later, when they were all laying in Clint’s bed, waiting for Kate to come back from getting Thai food and taking Lucky for a walk, Barney would whisper soft words to her, “you carry both of us all the time, ‘Tasha,” and for a moment, she’ll feel her heart skip a beat right before Clint would open his eyes and mumble a question to them; a question that will be answered while also simultaneously breaking her heart.)

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> comment, kudos, all that good shit. bad comments aren't allowed, my dog said so which means everyone has to listen.


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